Sunday, March 6, 2011

Manny Gamburyan's return to the UFC has been delayed, as Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com reports that he has suffered a back injury and has been pulled out of a bout with Raphael Assuncao at UFC 128 in March.

Per the report, the UFC is hoping to find a replacement to meet Assuncao on the card, but have not signed anyone for yet.

Assuncao will make his UFC debut on this event if they keep him on the card after getting back on track in his final WEC appearance. The win over L.C. Davis halted a two fight skid for the Brazilian.

Gamburyan has not fought since getting finished by Jose Aldo last September. If he can return during the year he'll make his first appearance in the Octagon since UFC 94 in January in 2009.

UFC 128 takes place on March 19 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, headlined by the Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Jon Jones.

Penick's Analysis: Erik Koch doesn't have an opponent right now. If the UFC wanted to either move Assuncao up to fight next week or move Koch back to fight on the 19th, that would make for an excellent featherweight fight. This is an unfortunate setback for Gamburyan. He's found a lot of success in the featherweight division, and wanted to get back on track with this fight. Hopefully this injury doesn't keep him out of action for too long.